Golden Visa program suffering

The Golden Visa program, which concedes residence permits to third-country nationals who invest in Greece, is set to show its first annual decline this year since it was launched in 2014

“In the first three months of the year we had practically no new transactions and this is unlikely to change in the rest of the year, with a possible exception in the final quarter when there may be an increase in market activity,” Alexandros Risvas, head of the Risvas & Associates law firm, told Kathimerini.

He added that although there is some demand, this will not translate into new property purchases until 2021, and this is provided that air transport will been fully restored by then.

In the first quarter of 2020, the number of Golden Visas issued reached 227, as travel restrictions had reduced visits from China, where the bulk of demand for the Golden Visa program originates, since late January.

Another factor hampering the program this year is psychology, as many interested investors don’t want to take the risk of traveling to Greece in the midst of the pandemic, even after the borders have fully opened.

A further obstacle to the completion of transactions has been the difficulty in employing alternative ways, such as those offered by technology: “We could have allowed the electronic forwarding of fingerprints, through embassy cooperation, so that at least some of the applications pending in previous months would proceed,” notes Risvas.

Source: ekathimerini.com